Progress Monitoring Made Quick and Easy

Progress monitoring and data collection. IEPs and RTI. We know how important it is and why it is so important… better yet, we know how time consuming it is.

But I am here to share with you a simple, easy, and effective way to save time… and your sanity. This system has been working for me for over 4 years now. Oh yeah, and it’s FREE.

Progress monitoring is used to assess students' academic performance, and gauge the the responsiveness to what the child is learning. It doesn't have to be a tedious, difficult, or time consuming task. Sharing the simple system that has worked for me for over 4 years, and it's free. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

This post may contain affiliate links.

If you’re anything like me, you are always trying to simplify the paperwork that being a special education teacher brings along with the title.

I wouldn’t trade what I do for the world, but I will admit to being overwhelmed at times because… seriously… there is. so. much. paperwork.

One of my goals a few summers ago was to simplify the way I collect data on my students’ IEP goals and objectives. I had been putting this task off because the system I already had in place worked, and why fix something that isn’t broken, right?

But this time I really feel like I’ve found an effective, simple, and easy way to collect and manage IEP data (that works for RTI too).

Supplies you will need:

CREATING THE DATA RINGS

When you download the free resource, you’ll need to be on a computer. Open the editable file in PowerPoint.

When you open the resource, you’ll see that it is completely editable. One IEP goal / objective for one box, just as you see in the image above. I create one page for each goal.

Now to make my life even simpler, I will create a Progress Ring PowerPoint for each of my students. That way when an IEP is updated, I can go in, edit, and reprint!

Because my classroom is color coded, I print each student’s goals on their color of card stock.

To save myself more time, I use a paper cutter to cut out each goal sheet.

A look at one page of a progress monitoring binder ring. It helps keep everything organized in one centralized location, and can be easily traveled to meetings and other classroom settings for intentional data conversations. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

Add a cover for confidentiality… and this is what you finished Progress Ring will look like.

I like to add the subject or topic of the goal (a general statement as you can see above) for easy toggling when I am progress monitoring.

Your finished goal pages may look something like this.

USING THE DATA RINGS

So how do I use these goal pages to make collecting data simpler, easier, and still effective?

Let’s first take a look at how I keep data on the pages.

1. J = January, F = February, M = March… make sense? After printing, I will go through each page and add a *star* above the month in which the child’s IEP is due. You’ll notice in the sample above, this fictitious child’s IEP is due in November.

2. When I type the goal in, I tag on the measurable part on the end. In the sample, you’ll see “4 of 5”. If it were a percent, I would just type in 80%. It’s easy to read and find.

3. In my district, we are advised to have at least 3 data points for each IEP goal/objective for each progress update (which is quarterly, or 4x a year). You can edit the number of boxes, but I like to keep them… I figure one box for each week of the each month suffices.

If I don’t collect official IEP data one week, I leave the box blank.

HOW AND WHEN AND WHERE AND… WHAT DOES DATA COLLECTION LOOK LIKE IN YOUR CLASSROOM?

Start here with this blog post. It outlines how I progress monitor, and then this blog post teaches you what to do after you collect the data.

If you’re looking for a quick video training, Intentional Data Training is included with your The Intentional IEP membership. The training includes practice modules for you to hone in on your progress monitoring skills – which I teach in a simple, use any where at any time way.
• You can join here, and gain access to the IEP Goal Bank and the 2 trainings, Intentional Data Collection and Intentional IEP Writing. If you have large caseload, check out this blog post with 3 tips for successful progress monitoring.

4. So what does collecting data look like in my classroom? We do the majority of our academic work at the back table – which is also where I keep the Progress Rings. They’re easy to find, easy to grab a certain student’s ring in the middle of a lesson, and easy to find when it’s time to write progress reports.

So if we’re working at the back table on IEP goals, I will have the student’s Progress Ring right in front of me. I typically use sticky notes to keep track of correct/incorrect responses (tallies), and then put the total fraction or percent in a slot on the binder ring. I keep the sticky notes with my weekly plans, that way if I ever need to look back at any of the data, I have it.

But the Progress Ring is simple and so much easier to look at during progress reports, where I can just type in percents or fractions, instead of filing through tens of sticky notes and deciphering data.

Want to save this idea for later, or simply keep the instructions to come back to as a refresher? Pin the image below to save or share.

How do you collect, manage, and store student data in your classroom?

Feeling stuck writing your IEPs? Download the 10 IEP Writing Commandments for FREE here!